BEFORE and AFTER

Yesterday we celebrated 18 years of marriage!. It seemed like it was just yesterday… but the truth is it has been about 6570 days, and we learned and are still learning.

It hasn’t been easy, but in God’s grace He has carried us through. Carried in the honeymoon stage…carried in the love stage, the work hard stage, the business stage, the stressful stage, the lying stage, the unfaithful stage, and the worst stage – when the truth comes out and we stop living the masqueraded life that buried us in our own deceitfulness, which created a false reality from which we needed to escape. “How?” we say…“Marriage is over” we say…and then we hear “I LOVE YOU!” yelled from the heavens. We hear a voice that with grace resounds the echo of the phrase “it is only a potential battle…an opportunity…don’t give up – grow up.” “How I desire your happiness, your joy. Since you got married I knew that being alone was not good. So I gave you that person to be by your side…for you to love. So now that the lie is over, start again and learn from your mistakes, and be the husband that I made you to be.” And I said “yes, Lord…I will love like You love – unconditionally, sacrificially, forgivingly, obediently.” And Jesus gave us the strength; He gave us the love, the patience, so that we could be victorious in this potential battlefield called marriage. Jesus showed us how to forgive and be victors over every lie. Jesus showed us how to be obedient, so that the failures of the heart will not prevail. Jesus showed us how to love so that we would not hate and be lost. Jesus showed us how to trust so that the ungrounded jealousies would die, and the grounded ones will be the sustainability of the stronger prayer. How happy are those who are willing to go the extra mile in their marriage…just like Jesus did when He went to the cross!

God in His loving grace has kept my marriage…my part is to be a good steward of my Father’s daughter.

Father, I thank You for Your grace in giving me her, who completes me. My heart melts at the thought that Your love for me extends up to the reality of her love for me, and that You sometimes use her arms to embrace my lacking heart. Please, Father, may my discipleship of her be pleasing to You…after all, You gave her to me for a time. May our love for You be the springing fountain of our love for each other. I love you Lord, and I love Denise.

To all of you out there: marriage is a potential battlefield that has no foundation if you forgive. It is the disarming of all enemies. After all, Jesus fought His battle that way and won! It is the maximum expression of love.

Blessings in Fellowship

For the first time since we arrived, our studies have started off with music, in worship to our King! Our friend and fellow servant Ezra was here visiting us for 12 days. He brought his guitar, and quickly (and we mean quickly) learned three songs in Spanish, so that we could open our Foundations class on Thursday evening with worship. Ezra does not speak Spanish (yet!) and was able to lead us in worship, in Spanish, in less than 48 hrs of his arrival, to the glory of God, and the appreciation of our attendees. The family that had previously expressed an interest in coming were able to join us last week for the first time. They were excited, and this week they invited others.





Geiner also broke out his guitar and had a lesson from Ezra.


Thursday we headed down the hill to central San Rafael de Heredia, to pass out some tracts and do some witnessing in the park. We encountered our usual mix of those who listen and have questions or experiences to share, those who are polite, and those who don’t want to take the time to listen or accept a tract. Ezra took the opportunity to let people know that Jesus loves them (Jesus te ama) and worked hard on memorizing John 3:16 in Spanish. It was a fruitful afternoon, with one young man interested in attending our Foundations class, and another woman who called us because we had our phone number on the tract we gave her, asking for prayer and wanting to know where we hold our bible studies.

We left for Perez Zeledon early last Saturday morning. We will give Ezra a chance here to let you in on his experience of life on the farm:

"As you all may know already the locals have a saying, “Pura Vida” which means pure life. That really is the best way to describe life on the farm. When people have so little and work so hard for it, the truly important things in life are valued. Faith, family and friends, are what these people cling to for support/survival and there is nothing more “pure life” than that. Add into the mix the absolutely beautiful and tranquil jungle and the overwhelming sense of God’s majesty in His creation, and you have Pura Vida. Things in the jungle are simple. I think that that simplicity was the best part. I told Denise that I can hear better up at the farm. She looked at me confused and I explained to her that at the farm almost every distraction or stimulant is removed and you can hear God better. Not because God is not speaking to us everywhere we are at in our busy lives but because in that simple life there are less distractions to kidnap us away from just sitting at the feet of our Lord and God. It was a lesson in perspective, seeking God and not comfort or entertainment/distractions. Some might look at these people and see how poor they are and what conditions they live in and feel sorry for them, but when I think about it I am reminded of God’s design, the least shall be first. May we all find a little more Pura Vida in our lives.
Beyond my experience at the farm, God is speaking to the people of Costa Rica through G&D. Life as a missionary is one of constantly being dependent on God. Never has that been truer in my life than while I have been here. I am in a country that I do not understand, struggling to speak a language that I do not know and somehow God can still use it for His glory. While I was playing and singing worship songs in a language that I do not know, not even understanding the meaning of the words it made me realize just how dependent on the strength of Jesus I was. I felt so underprepared and so out of place but God gave me the strength and used it to bless the people listening while glorifying Himself. Praise the Lord God almighty He is so faithful. "

Our bi-weekly study in Perez Zeledon was also blessed with the sounds of praise and worship to the Lord. We had two additions to the group, with expectations of invitations to others.

Thank you Ezra, for your willingness to serve and love the people of Costa Rica.

“To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” 1 Corinthians 9:21-23